2019-20 Mediterranean medicane season
The 2019-20 Mediterranean medicane season is a currently ongoing medicane season that started on July 1, 2019 and will end on June 30, 2020. The first named storm formed on July 15, 2019. The strongest storm of the season so far was Trudy, which peaked at medicane intensity with winds of 65 mph and a minimum pressure of 993 millibars. Seasonal Summary ImageSize = width:700 height:250 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/2019 till:31/01/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/07/2019 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:MS value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Medistorm id:SMS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Severe_Medistorm id:MC value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Medicane id:MMC value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Major_Medicane id:CMC value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Catastrophic_Medicane Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:15/07/2019 till:15/07/2019 color:MS text:Qendrim from:23/10/2019 till:26/10/2019 color:SMS text:Scott from:10/11/2019 till:11/11/2019 color:MC text:Trudy from:23/11/2019 till:24/11/2019 color:SMS text:Vito from:03/12/2019 till:04/12/2019 color:SMS text:Xylona from:30/12/2019 till:31/12/2019 color:SMS text:Yosef from:07/01/2020 till:08/01/2020 color:SMS text:Zenia bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/07/2019 till:31/07/2019 text:July from:01/08/2019 till:31/08/2019 text:August from:01/09/2019 till:30/09/2019 text:September from:01/10/2019 till:31/10/2019 text:October from:01/11/2019 till:30/11/2019 text:November from:01/12/2019 till:31/12/2019 text:December from:01/01/2020 till:31/01/2020 text:January Storms Medistorm Qendrim Severe Medistorm Scott On October 22, a cluster of rotating thunderstorms transitioned into a warm-core cyclone and moved into the extreme Eastern Mediterranean Sea, becoming Medistorm Scott. The system developed an eye-like feature from dry air intrusion on October 23, despite being only 30 mph. The system's slow movement and stalling caused heavy rainfall in Egypt and Cyprus over the course of October 22, causing 11 deaths in Cairo. On October 24, the system developed cyclonic banding, signifying tropical characteristics, and was upgraded to a severe medistorm with winds of 40 mph. On October 25, the storm began to turn to the southeast, bringing heavy rain and winds to already flooded areas of Egypt, including Cairo, Alexandria, and Burg Al Burullous. A state of emergency was declared in Gaza Strip ahead of the storm on the same day. Scott fluctuated between 40-45 mph in intensity, but remained 1004-1006 millibars in strength. Scott weakened some due to shear, but eventually fought against the shear, and strengthened into a 50 mph storm on October 26. At 10:00 am (local time) on October 26, Scott made landfall southeast of Port Said, Egypt, with winds of 45 mph. 1 death was reported in Gaza due to electrocution. Rainfall was recorded from 50-150 mm in Judea, Gaza, Israel, and Palestine, and trails closed due to the storm. A small storm surge was recorded in Haifa, and many places along the coasts saw waves up to 5 feet in height. During the evening of October 26, Scott dissipated over the Sinai Peninsula. Overall, the storm caused 12 deaths and an unknown amount of damage. Medicane Trudy On November 10, an extratropical cyclone transitioned into a hybrid cyclone around 15:00 UTC. The system had winds of 50 mph and was named Trudy. The storm slowly moved to the northwest, bringing high wind gusts to Sardinia and Corsica, before making a turn to the south. Medicane watches were posted for Northern Algeria, and medistorm watches for western coastal Sardinia. At 00:00 UTC on November 11, Trudy became the first medicane of the season, reaching winds of 60 mph (100 km/h). Trudy's pressure had deepened to 999 millibars as well, and IR satellite imagery supported an upgrade in intensity. On November 11, the occlusion head of Trudy tightened, and eventually able to become classified as a subtropical storm around mid-day. Not too long after 15:00 UTC, an eye began to develop, and Trudy reached its peak intensity of 65 mph, with a minimum pressure of 993 millibars, just before making landfall near Jijel, Algeria. Almost immediately after landfall, Trudy's circulation was ripped apart by land interaction, and its remnants were absorbed by Cyclone Victoria. One fatality was reported in Mallorca. Severe Medistorm Vito Severe Medistorm Xylona Severe Medistorm Yosef Severe Medistorm Zenia Other systems On October 8, 2019, an extratropical cyclone was designated as Medistorm Rhea by the MCC, but later in post-analysis, it was struck off from the medicane database. Another system developed briefly in the Black Sea in mid-December, but due to it lasting only 3 hours, it was not included as a system in the season. Storm names In September 2018, a list of names was released by the Mediterranean Cyclone Centre (MCC). This list of names was further expanded in November 2018, to include a male-female order, skipping the letters U and W, for their uncommon appearances in Mediterranean culture. The names are continuous, not stopping and picking up for the next year. In 2019-20, the season started with Qendrim. The next 8 names are shown on the list. Retirement After causing many deaths and heavy damages in Israel, Palestine, and Egypt, the name Scott was retired. It will be replaced by Seth for future use.